White Jack is a rum produced by Westerhall Estate. It is named White Jack as it is actually another celebrity tie in. None other than Jack White of The White Stripes commissioned this White Overproof rum.

Okay that’s a lie but it’s safe to say that when I tried to “Google” some information on White Jack, I got far more results about the Top Hat and Trilby wearing front man of the American Lo-Fi Garage Rock duo than I did about White Jack!

So we are left with my own theories (which are often very wrong and sometimes very strange). I can only imagine that this rum was produced to take some of the market share from Clarkes Court’s Pure White Overproof rum (both are sold in plastic bottles though Westerhalls 750ml bottle is glass). This is higher proof than that by 1%.

It also may have been marketed to attract the tourist market who may be slightly put off by the appearance of its brother Iron Jack which looks a little like urine.

White Jack is bottled in 250ml or 750ml bottles at a tongue burning 70% ABV. Westerhall do have a presence in the UK and both White Jack and Iron Jack can be bought from a few online stores based in the UK. White Jack costs around £35 per bottle which makes it an expensive alternative to the readily available J Wray and Nephew.

In order to remove the colour White Jack is charcoal filtered after ageing ( I suspect this is Iron Jack minus the colour). It is light bodied and like all of Westerhall’s rums comes form Angostura in Trinidad. Being blended and bottled on Grenada. It may well be column distilled rums that are used in this and Iron Jack. Information has proved elusive unfortunately.

In the glass White Jack is crystal clear like water. The nose is very sweet – it remind me of the Iron Jack and another Grenada rum Old Grog – very heavy on the banana. It smells like foam banana sweets. It also has that distinctive Angostura buttery twang. With it being a 70% ABV spirit the alcohol fumes are pretty prominent on the nose. It’s shippable (possibly over ice) but really its not a good idea to be drinking such strong spirits neat. Its not big and its not clever!

When mixed the White Jack makes for a very pleasant sweet drink. It seems slightly different to the Iron Jack but I wouldn’t be surprised if it is roughly the same spirit. It reminds me of Chairman’s Reserve White Label with its sweet banana notes. It’s a very different white Overproof rum to J Wray and Nephew. After all it’s a Trini rum base rather than Jamaican. As a result it is not funky or as complex as J Wray.

White Jack (like its brother) is dangerously mixable. At 70% ABV you can make this last a long time. Problem is its so sweet you can easily pour you normal measures.